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We talk of Byzantium and the Byzantine Empire, but their inhabitants never did. They called themselves Romaioi, and if they called the empire anything at all they called it Romania. Byzantium had been the site of Constantine's new capital in the east — Constantinople — or, New Rome. The period when the institutions of this empire were most characteristically ‘Byzantine’ lies between 610 and 1204. This chapter discusses the rise of the Byzantine Empire, the nature of the Byzantine polity, the territorial framework, the central government, and the significance and legacy of the Byzantine polity.

We talk of Byzantium and the Byzantine Empire, but their inhabitants never did. They called themselves Romaioi, and if they called the empire anything at all they called it Romania. Byzantium had been the site of Constantine's new capital in the east — Constantinople — or, New Rome. The period when the institutions of this empire were most characteristically ‘Byzantine’ lies between 610 and 1204. This chapter discusses the rise of the Byzantine Empire, the nature of the Byzantine polity, the territorial framework, the central government, and the significance and legacy of the Byzantine polity.